


My father was there

by rea_p



Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-05
Updated: 2010-07-05
Packaged: 2017-10-10 09:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rea_p/pseuds/rea_p
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A slice of Return of the King, as seen from completely outside</p>
            </blockquote>





	My father was there

My father was there when the Black Gates of Mordor opened for the last time. He was there, with the King Aragorn and all the other heroes of legend, and he recites the speech the King gave, although he was too far back in the ranks to hear it himself on that day. He did see Mordor, though, before it was destroyed, the black plains and the firey mountian, and the great red flame atop the black tower.

When he speaks of it, his voice stills, and I think he's still afriad, for all that that great evil is gone now. Telling the story, he moves quickly to being surrounded by the armies of Mordor, how the warriors of Gondor and Rohan were like a tiny rock in the sea of enemies. The battle is amazing when he tells it, full of energy and blood. He says he saw the eagles come to fight the black riders in the air, although my elder brother says he would have been too busy fighting to notice anything. My brother also doubts that my father was able to get close enough to see much of anything, on the day of the coronation of King Aragorn, although I think Father did get close. I just think that some of the things he says are a bit grander than the truth.

Mother loves to hear him talk about the coronation, because it's lovely to think about, and because she couldn't see it, being here in Rohan, taking care of my brother, who was three, and me, a babe in arms then. My father could have left after the fall of Mordor, and come home to her, but he stayed in Minas Tirith to see the coronation because he knew it would be something to tell his children and grandchildren about. He says that a lot these days, about the grandchildren, now that my brother is married and has a good trade as a blacksmith and ferrier. He says it to me, some, but I'm not married, yet, and would rather be an aunt than a mother for now. There are no men in this village for me, so I'm thinking about going to Edoras to find one. Or perhaps I'll go all the way to Gondor. I'd love to see the places my father talks about, when he tells the stories about his past, when he stood with other warriors and watched the black gates of Mordor open for the last time.


End file.
